People in Ireland most willing in EU to take Covid-19 vaccine, survey

People in Ireland are the most willing among European Union member states to take the Covid-19 vaccine, according to a survey released on Thursday.

Asked about their intentions to take the vaccine 86.5 per cent of those surveyed in Ireland said they were “very likely” (76.6 per cent) or “rather likely” (9.9 per cent) to take the vaccine.

According to an online survey from Eurofound (138,629 respondents) taken across the EU in February and March, willingness to take the vaccine was also high in Denmark, Malta and Portugal.

Vaccine hesitancy was highest in Bulgaria, where 61 per cent of those surveyed indicated they were very unlikely or rather unlikely to take the vaccine, followed by Latvia, Croatia and France.

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More than a quarter of adults in the EU are vaccine hesitant, with 29 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women indicating that they were either very unlikely or rather unlikely to receive the vaccine.

The report also found that last spring, working exclusively from home was most common in Ireland (48 per cent) and least common in Croatia (9 per cent) and Bulgaria (10 per cent).

The “Living, working and Covid-19” survey found a strong association between vaccine hesitancy and social media use, particularly when social media is the main source of information.

The stated intention to get vaccinated varies considerably across the 27 EU member states, with “an important east-west divide discernible across the union”, the report notes.

With the exception of Austria and France, the intention to get vaccinated is over 60 per cent for all western member states – with Nordic and Mediterranean countries, Denmark and Ireland having even higher rates – while among eastern member states the rate is dramatically lower, ranging from 59 per cent in Romania to 33 per cent in Bulgaria.

People aged 35-49 are more sceptical about vaccines (29 per cent) than younger and older age groups (26 per cent and 27 per cent respectively).

Unemployed people (39 per cent), those with a long-term illness or disability (39 per cent) and full-time homemakers (33 per cent) are more vaccine hesitant than people in employment (26 per cent) or those who are retired (23 per cent). The least vaccine averse are students (13 per cent).

While those that consume social media for three hours or more daily are slightly more hesitant (30 per cent) than others (26 per cent), the proportion rises to 40 per cent among those who use social media as their primary source of news.

Among those who use traditional news sources (press, television and radio) as their primary source of information, the proportion of vaccine sceptics is 18 per cent.

Daphne Ahrendt, Eurofound Senior Research Manager said while vaccines play a crucial role in overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic, unfortunately the findings reflect "a failure to deliver persuasive and clear communication regarding the efficacy and safety of vaccines".